


I could do so much more

by WinnietheShit



Category: Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-15
Updated: 2012-08-15
Packaged: 2017-11-12 04:52:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/486933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WinnietheShit/pseuds/WinnietheShit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Snow White has been called beautiful too many times since she has returned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I could do so much more

Snow White is not very good at being a queen.  The people love her, to be sure, and the land thrives under her rule, but she is not a good  _queen_ .  She has a lifetime of training to catch up on.  Which spoon to use and how early to wake and how to address others and if she should wait for a maid to brush her hair or to just do it herself and whether to rise and light the fire or again wait for a maid to do it and when to bow and to whom and why - it is exhausting.  And none of it  helps .  She often thinks the time she spends practicing her calligraphy or learning a courtly dance or something else equally absurd could much better be used to rebuild her kingdom.

She tries talking to William about this, tries to express her frustration at the absurd social regulations she was forced to adhere to, tries to tell him that she’d much rather being doing something useful with her time.  He simply smiles at her and says, “You’re the queen, Snow.  I know it’s hard, because you’ve never been trained for something like this, but it’s expected of you.  The people need you to hold your head up high and push on and help the kingdom thrive.”  Snow White frowns at that.  That hadn’t been what she meant at all.  She supposes it a credit to her time spent locked up that she has such trouble articulating her thoughts.

At the very least she has the huntsman.  He seems to understand what she is going through even without her saying so.  In fact, he is the first to bring up the idea of leaving the castle and traveling the kingdom.  Of course, he means himself,  _alone_ , but Snow White warms to the idea so much so that one night, well past midnight, after her maids have gone to bed, she slips on some trousers and steals out to the huntsman’s hut beside the castle.  (He’d refused a room within.)

There is a light on in his window.  He is awake, she notes with some surprise as she steals towards his cottage.  Snow White doesn’t bother to knock before opening the door and stepping inside.  The huntsman is sharpening his axe.  He lets the whetstone drop and frowns up at her.

“What’re ye doin’ here?”

She gives him a thin, close-lipped smile.  “I wanted to talk.”

Eric sighs and leans back in his chair.  Snow White takes that as an invitation and seats herself on the edge of his bed.

“I want to go.”

Eric grunts.  “Go where?”

Snow White shrugs.  “Anywhere.  I feel... useless.”

The huntsman shakes his head.  “We’d better find a new queen then, is that what you’re sayin’?”

Snow frowns at him.  “No.  Don’t - ”  She sighs.  “Don’t you feel  _tired_ ?  Bored, almost?”  She struggles to find a better word.

“Restless?” the huntsman offers.

“Yes.  I’m not doing any good sitting on a throne and - and - and looking  _pretty_ .”  She grimaces at her feet.  “Ravenna was pretty.”

“Ravenna was beautiful,” the huntsman corrects, and Snow looks up at him in alarm.  “And cruel.  And the land died under her rule.”  For a moment she’s afraid he’ll continue with,  _You are beautiful, too _ , but he doesn’t, and for that she is so, so glad.  Snow White has been called beautiful too many times since she has returned.  Mostly by William.  “But you’re wrong.  Just bein’ alive an’ healthy an’ free has done wonders for the kingdom.  You’re bringin’ it back to life.”  She thinks she likes the way he says  _life_ .  Two syllables.   _ Li-yef_ .

“I could do more,” she says.

“You could.”

“I want to go.”  Snow White grimaces again.  “William says I oughtn’t.”

“Bugger him.”  She isn’t sure if he means it or not.

“William says the realm needs me to - to hold my head up and push on and concentrate on healing the land.”  She gathers the blankets at the end of the huntsman’s bed in her fists.  “I want to do more.  I could do so _much_ more.”  She looks up at Eric desperately and says, “I could help the realm.  I could travel.  Get to know it.  Save it.  One piece at a time.”  Snow White resists another grimace.  She hates the way she speaks - her words fragmented and disjointed, none of her sentences flowing the way Ravenna’s had.  But Ravenna was cruel and evil and full of sadness, and the land  died _under her rule_.  Perhaps it’s better that Snow White does not speak the way Ravenna did.

“I want to go,” she pleads.  “I want to  _go_ .”

“What will you do?”  Noting her confusion, he continues, “If you go.  If you leave.  What will you do?”  And Snow White notes the way his sentences are just as fragmented as hers.

“I’ll... help.  People in need. There’s whole towns filled with people who need help, and nobody will.  Maybe...  Maybe if the people see that I’m - that I’m helping, maybe they’ll follow my example.  Maybe they’ll help too.”

“You’re absurd.”

“I am  _not_ ,” but she realizes he’s smiling and she smiles too.  Snow White takes a deep breath.  “Will you go with me, Huntsman?”

Eric’s smile fades.  “It’s not proper.”

“Since when do you care?”  She spits the words out with more venom than she intends, and shrinks back against the wall in shame.

“Since you became queen,” he says quietly.  “You’ve got duties - ”

“My  _duty_ is to save my kingdom,  _Huntsman_ , and  _your_ duty is to  _serve_ me!”

Eric says nothing, and Snow White feels a little bit too much like Ravenna.

“I’m sorry.”  She hangs her head and looks again to her toes.   _ I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry _ .

“Queens don’t apologize to huntsmen.”

“You’re not just any huntsman,” Snow White whispers.

He grins.  “You’re not just any queen.”

She looks up again.  “Eric...”

“I’ll go with you.”  He leans forward and scowls.  “ _If_ you really mean to go.”

Snow White feels a smile spread across her face.  “Oh, I really mean to go.”

  


 

**Author's Note:**

> WELL.  
> This stemmed from me hearing that there was going to be a sequel to the film, and for some reason my brain immediately jumped to "Well, now they have to go have all these fun adventures, rescuing other fairytale characters from THEIR unhappy endings."  
> And now I fear that will never happen.  
> So here, you get a one shot.  
> (Although maybe I will write something concerning the other well-known fairytale princesses... Oh god, but don't get your hopes up. I'm horribly unreliable.)


End file.
